05 October, 2013

Today's Economics

Some economics as I understand it. Jobs are created by companies when they think they need people. Only when they are forced to hire because they would lose business if they don't. Not one job is created because business is nice or feels a duty to. Regulation has little, if anything, to do with it. They need jobs when they have someone to buy the stuff they do or make or sell. That can be the public, the government, other people in the world, or other governments. If they don't have the money to buy anything, they don't. As a result, many companies sit on their cash waiting for opportunity. As a result of the crash, most people don't have the cash for anything but the basics or are saving because of uncertianty of the future. That is the case for most Americans today, evidenced by the slow GDP growth and the decline in personal debt (small silver lining). With the public not buying and other countries not buying, there is one way to give the economy a little kick. Break the cycle. Not drive the economy, just stimulate it in the right direction. Government spending. But with the loss of incomes comes the loss of tax revenue. Kind of a sick circle. We need government spending anyway and it was started when Obama came into office and the short time he had a fillibuster proof Senate. It did work if you look at actual data, there wasn't enough of it, but it made a difference. But that ended in the fall of 2009 with the death of Kennedy and the fillibuster proof Senate. From then on the GOP could block with fillibuster any legislation for stimulus the White House proposed, and did. The use of the fillibuster by the GOP has been many times more in the last 5 years than all combined previously. Why? Because of the debt fear. Austerity! Austerity! Cut government! Save money! And it happened, your "dictator" Obama made concessions left and right. Hundreds of thousands of government (local, state, AND federal) workers have been fired, their paychecks removed from the economy just when paychecks were needed. That is FACT. Look it up. And the economy? The austerity hasn't worked. Here or in Japan or in Europe. The Japanese have come to their senses after 20 years of stagnation, Europe shows the signs of coming out of the austerity delusion. But the recovery the GOP wants is happening, slow, painful, not one that makes Obama look good. The GOP is happy. They want Obama to fail, they said it the day he was elected and have worked endlessly since to make it happen. Constant lying about ACA, the economy, the budget battles, everything.

We have now a great opportunity to make our economy boom. Or maybe had. Money is cheap, interest rates low, and there are many things to go do with it. Construction all across the country. Energy independence (not fucking carbon). Research of all kinds. But no. The GOP would rather the economy gets crushed first.

The GOP is going to die over this. A small radical far right faction will split off and wither away. I am not sure what the rest will do. Today, I don't fucking care what the cowards do.